Kendrapara, Jan. 13: Forest personnel have taken into custody 75 marine fishermen for intruding into turtles’ habitat zones and seized 14 mechanised sea-fishing-vessels off the Gahirmatha marine sanctuary coast today.

“The vessels used for illegal fishing were seized and the fishermen sent to custody under the provisions of Odisha Marine Fishing Regulation Act and Wildlife Protection Act,” said a forest official.

The vessels had trespassed into prohibited sanctuary corridors contravening the provisions of Wildlife Protection Act, Odisha Marine Fishing Regulation Act and mandatory rules of marine sanctuary.

This is the largest crackdown in a day since the ban was enforced on fishing in breeding turtles’ concentration zone on November 1.

The crackdown has been stepped up to make the turtles’ concentration zone free from human interference. The sighting of hundreds of carcasses of marine animals on the beaches in recent weeks had put the forest department in a spot of bother.

Rise in mortality rate of mating turtles led to the clamping of the prohibition as the gill nets used by the vessels proved to be messenger of death for breeding turtles. Turtles, accorded as schedule-1 animal under wildlife protection act for their highly threatened status, get entangled in the nets for prolonged period and die of asphyxiation. They also perish in large numbers after getting hit by the propeller of the fishing vessels.

Coast guard, forest and police and fisheries department have been conducting the operation jointly after the turtles began their annual breeding season in November.“These marine species will invade the beaches to lay eggs. This unique natural phenomenon, otherwise described as Arribada, is expected to take place next month,” said Manoj Kumar Mahapatra, divisional forest officer, Rajnagar Mangrove (Wildlife) Forest Division.